It is nice to record something that sounds good, does not take too long to record, and does not require months to prepare. In fact I only got to know these charming little ones yesterday Maybe not great music, but nice and tuneful. And we don't have all too much Swedish music on the site. Also, Stenhammar is a composer that deserves more exposure (and wrote far more substantial things than these).

I'm unfamiliar with Stenhammar, but in listening to these character pieces he definitely has a very refined idiom--much craftsmanship there. Once in awhile I hear a fleeting, vague reference to Chopin, but still this composer is very original. I believe you played all of these piece very well.

David

_________________"Interpreting music means exploring the promise of the potential of possibilities." David April

I had a listen to your recordings, nice playing and I agree they are tuneful. IMO especially the 2nd and 3rd of the three. Dynamics were brought out well and tempo did not seemed rushed or too slow. I have never heard of Stenhammar but this makes a good impression I'm swedish but to my shame I don't really know what to think of when I think of swedish music. Now I can claim something

-Riley

_________________"I don't know what music is, but I know it when I hear it." - Alan SchuylerRiley Tucker

Thanks all. Funny that you like nos. 2 and 3 best. I rate no. 1 much higher. Could not get the damn thing out of my head all day yesterday.The 'problem' with Swedish music is that there was never a great Swedish composer to put it firmly on the map, like the other Scandinavian countries had Sibelius, Grieg, and Nielsen. Much Swedish music is too insistently jolly, light, and lyrical. While there's nothing wrong with that, one longs for more depth and a bit of struggle. But there are some good composers if you can find them, like Stenhammar, Larsson, Alfven, and Atterberg (the latter maybe the most distinctive, a composer I'd want to explore but he wrote very little for piano besides his marvellous concerto).

I'm afraid I'm going to have to go with the crowd and also prefer nos. 2 and 3. The first one seemed a bit nondescript but then again perhaps it needs more listening. The growling bass in no. 2 made me chuckle. The third was pleasingly rustic and spirited in character; if I remember rightly a polska is a Scandinavian dance. By association I've now been diverted into listening to his first piano concerto.

Thanks for listening Andrew. I am curious where you heard growling basses in no.2 ? Not aware of them - but if I'd done it subconsciously, all the better

How strange I prefer no.1 and everybody else nos. 2 and 3. Must be my bad taste I find no.1 quite affecting and knew after hearing the first few bars I had to play it. The others, though nice enough, didn't quite do that for me.

I have had bad luck with the link on imslp, I couldn´t open the link to the score, so I can not judge too much about your playing of these pieces.These are nice sounding character pieces in late romantic style, may be a bit comparable with the Songs Without Words by Mendelssohn. I like especially the second piece, it has a good and pregnant theme. The last song is a nice valse. Sounds all well played to me and there are some expressive moments.

Thanks Bohumir. I don't think Stenhammar usually sounds especially 'Swedish', whatever that is. Maybe he does here,but I think his big works are more influenced by Brahms and other mainstream composers. Actually Swedish native music doesnot seem to have the distinctive sound of Norwegian and Finnish music. But there are some find Swedish composers I'dlike to explore - Atterberg, Larsson, Wiklund, etc.

OT about swedish music. Have heard Rosenberg - quite cool music, really! And Mankel. Also played two preludes by Mankel. But just the "nice" ones (mostly romantic and not so complicated. It's interresting how Mankel was writing. When I saw his sketches there's normal nice music. But then in the final versions he tried to do something special. Sometimes it's quite exciting.

_________________Bohumir - don't take it so hard, please... Usually I don't think about what I write.

1: Molto tranquillo, semplice (2:22) Very bell like tone. Your performance captures a pensive and yet hopeful character. There is such a beautiful approach to the left hand intervals. The balance between melody and harmony is superbly mastered.

2: Allegro (1:31)Very beautiful approach to dynamics. There is a delicacy and yet a crispness and controlled buoyancy to the playing. I sense a relaxed technique and wonderful judgement in terms of the dynaimc level. Everything is in perspective in terms of timing, tone, dynamic level, interplay between hands. Thank you for a very enjoyable performance.

3: Polska (en miniature) (1:35) Perhpas a pinch less subdued. The timing is excellent and the piece moves beautifully.

Thanks for bringing up Stenhammar, this is charming! The most often played piano piece by him here is the B minor fantasy, eg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keSoGQFHiqc (sorry if I break a rule by posting a link, if so I'll remove it). It is apparently not as hard as it sounds (I never tried it). I does sound a bit like Brahms.

I'm not so sure about Swedish music being overly cheerful. Some folk music is but it is really dance music and is supposed to cheer people up. There is quite a wide spectrum. Sure we don't have a "defining" composer (unless you count Grieg, since Sweden and Norway were one country at the time) but I'm not sure that is a bad thing.

Chris, make sure you include Peterson-Berger in your list to try. In particular his suite Frösöblomster (flowers from Frösö) is charming and not too difficult. The piece "Sommarsång" in it is performed constantly at student recitals (at least that used to be the case when I attended such). Any Swedish pianist will know it, it almost has the same status as Fur Elise. Me, I never played either of them but I was kind of rebellious in some respects.

A Swedish favourite of mine is the Chaconne (op by Gunnar de Frumerie, quite impressive but not too hard. A link where you can listen to some samples of his work is:

The opus number should by 8. Somehow when followed by a parenthesis it became a smiley. :)

Yes, isn't our bulletin board clever ! There's a whole list of combinations it automagically converts to smilies. If you want to disable that you can tick'Disable BBcode' or 'Disable smilies' underneath your posting. Or set these in your profile.I'll check out that Stenhammar phantasie, and see what I can find by Gunnar de Frumerie, whose name I have heard but never his music.As for Peterson-Berger, our site founder Robert Stahlbard recorded his Frosomblomster some years ago, but I was not much take with the piece, finding it rather trite. I may want to try out Atterberg's Hostballade no.1, the only of his pieces I can find online. Atterberg was such a great composer, easily Sweden's best IMO. He should be right up there with Nielsen and Sibelius.

I've sampled other items of Peterson Berger's Frosoblomster such as I could find on Youtube. All very pretty and charming but IMO a bit bland and clumsy, and lacking in any distinctive personality. Despite Olaf Hojer's excellent advocacy, it does not make me want to explore this composer.

The Stenhammar Fantasie is a very good work, with a most beautiful theme (though it seems he milks it just a little too long). This might be worth theeffort, and indeed from listening to it I would think it is effective and impressive without being extremely difficult.

Gunner de Frumerie is a real find ! I love what I heard of his etudes on that site you mentioned. Must see what is available of his scores. Drat, and I have so much to do already

Thanks for these tips Joachim, it is nice to discuss some 'off the beaten track' repertoire here.

Great playing Chris and it is true that none of the Swedish classical composers have a distinctive Swedish style or sound. Actually, you have to search for Swedish folk music to find the true spirit of Swedish music and the closest match out of these three Stenhammar pieces is, according to my view, the third.

Thanks Robert. There must be 'real' Swedish folk music but I think composers never took it at face value like Norwegian composers did (Grieg with the Slatter, Tveitt with the Hardanger Tunes). But it's probably not fair to always compare Swedish to Norwegian music. The Swedes have a mind and culture of their own.

I love Stenhammar!I have even imported from Sweden two piano sonatas' score, which I could find nowhere else (and it was really difficult to import these, since the website was in Swedish, and I know beans about it. But the most difficult part was to DISCOVER this website. hehe).

However I must admit I was a little disappointed, because I thought these were the 3 Pieces Op. 11.

Yes there is and I think its fair to say that classical composers never paid it much attention. A pity as many of these old folk songs are truly beautiful! I had an idea to take that up many years ago and I made some compositions which are very inspired by Swedish folk songs but as often, I cannot take the time needed and then I'm not sure I am talented enough to pull it off.

Comparing with Norway, it differs a bit but to be honest, not that much. We live very close and have almost the same language (we understand each other pretty well), share many parts of history and people move and work between our countries without restrictions.

techneut wrote:

Thanks Robert. There must be 'real' Swedish folk music but I think composers never took it at face value like Norwegian composers did (Grieg with the Slatter, Tveitt with the Hardanger Tunes). But it's probably not fair to always compare Swedish to Norwegian music. The Swedes have a mind and culture of their own.

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